Martin Luther King Jr. would have been proud

Barack Obama's acceptance speech tonight shows how far we have come since 1963

When Barack Obama takes the biggest stage of his life tonight, it will be 45 years to the day since Martin Luther King Jr. made his "I have a dream" speech. Perhaps 45 years from today we will be able to place Obama's speech on his acceptance of the Democratic Party's nomination in its pristine historical perspective. For now, the focus is split between the demands of pragmatic politics and what has to be a remarkable moment in American history.

It is a remarkable moment. You may not vote for Obama in November, and this paper may not endorse him for the presidency. Despite that, this is a remarkable moment whether you're Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative or in between. Obama's victory in the Democratic primaries, capped by his acceptance of the nomination tonight, has been a remarkable story all year. It has been a story of youth and possibility, the strength of diversity and of the country's ability to live up to King's dream that we should judge a person by ability and character and not skin color.

The country has come a long way since King's speech in 1963. We see how far it has come when an African-American is nominated by one of the country's two major parties to be the next president. Obama's acceptance speech should be seen as a commemoration of progress toward equality and justice. That makes the event itself, beyond the politics of the occasion, worth reflection.

Does Obama's victory in the Democratic Party mean we have moved beyond the litmus test of race and ethnicity? Does it mean voters can look beyond a narrow base of prejudicial loyalty to race and ethnicity? Does it mean the country has passed the "we-they" mentality? We would like to think so, but we know we are only partly there.

At the same time, we should not minimize Obama's unique ability that has brought him to this moment. His march through the primaries can't be attributed to the country's coming of age on race. His victory in the Democratic primary campaign was his own. He showed a political skill not seen since Bill Clinton's first campaign and John F. Kennedy's before that. He built an impressive organization that helped him score dazzling victories over formidable opponents, especially Hillary Clinton, who showed her own formidable talents as a speaker on Tuesday night.

There has been much discussion about what Obama should say in this most important speech of his life when he will have the attention of the electorate watching the convention. Obama in recent days said his speech will be more "workmanlike" than his soaring address at the 2004 Democratic convention.

You can bet that whatever he has to say as he accepts the nomination will have the Democrats and party activists in the audience in a foot-stomping, placard-waving mood. The challenge for Obama is not to waste the opportunity on his own loyalists. He still has to show he can connect with average, middle-class, indepent Americans. The perception that he is an intellectual elitist hurt him in the primaries and he has to overcome that perception if he hopes to beat John McCain in November.

In one way, Obama is in an unusual predicament: He must use his dazzling oratorical skills to make the case that he is more than just a man with extraordinary oratorical ability. He has to show that he has more substance than just high-flown rhetoric. That's no easy feat, so maybe that's why he said his speech aims to be "workmanlike" rather than inspirational.

Given his record, we expect Obama to swing for the fences. He has already scored a remarkable victory in winning the Democratic Party's nomination for president. That sends a powerful message to every person in the country that there are no doors we cannot unlock. Tonight represents a big moment for Obama, the Democrats, and the country. We would like to think that Martin Luther King Jr., were he alive, would be cheering Obama's acceptance speech. This is a big part of the dream that has been too long deferred.